Key Points
- The Constitutional Court ruled, on Friday (May 8), in favour of the EFF and ATM regarding the Section 89 panel report.
- The Court ordered that the report be referred to Parliament’s impeachment committee.
- President Ramaphosa announced tonight (May 11) that he will not resign following the ruling.
- The President said that resigning would “give credence” to a report with “grave flaws.”
- The President once again denied wrongdoing linked to the Phala Phala matter.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that he will not resign following the Constitutional Court ruling this past Friday (May 8), which ordered that the Section 89 panel report into the Phala Phala matter be referred to Parliament’s impeachment committee.
The Constitutional Court ruled in favour of the EFF and ATM in their case against Parliament regarding its December 2022 decision not to adopt the Section 89 panel report that could have led to an impeachment inquiry into Ramaphosa over the alleged theft of foreign currency at his Limpopo game farm.
Addressing the nation from the Union Buildings on Monday evening (May 11), Ramaphosa said he accepted and respected the Constitutional Court’s ruling.
The President however made it clear that he would not step down.
“I therefore respectfully want to make it clear that I will not resign. To do so would be to pre-empt a process defined by the Constitution. To do so would be to give credence to a panel report that unfortunately has grave flaws,” Ramaphosa said.
Ramaphosa said the Constitutional Court had found flaws in the National Assembly rules governing the process for the removal of a President from office.
He explained that the independent panel appointed by Parliament in 2022 had concluded that information presented before it disclosed prima facie evidence that the President may have committed serious misconduct and a serious violation of the Constitution.
The National Assembly however voted in December 2022 not to refer the report to an impeachment committee. The Constitutional Court has now ruled that the matter must proceed to Parliament’s impeachment committee.
Ramaphosa also reiterated that since the criminal complaint was laid against him in June 2022, he had consistently maintained that he had not stolen public money, committed any crime, nor violated his oath of office.